<VV> Are turbos worth having?

[Phil Brandt]

"RKAT" wants to know if turbo Vairs are worth having.  You're kiddin', right?
IMO they're at the top of the heap, collecting-wise and top-end
performance-wise.  I've had two over the years, daily drivers both, and had a
lot less carb trouble than trying to sync my one-owner '66 140 Corsa (and,
BTW, that's why I, circa '70, went to the IECO AFB 4bbl setup and never looked
back). For my '62 Spyder convert ('66 block/heads) I adapted a Rochester RC
side draft from a '62 Jetfire by merely cutting off the mounting flange,
rotating it to match the Vair mounting studs and heliarcing it. The venturi
area is approximately 1/3 more, and the carb's factory-plumbed for
water-alcohol injection (the Jetfire 215 V-8 had approx. 10:1 compression!).
The worst thing that might happen to a turbo daily driver is that disuse of
the turbo may carbon up (the turbine/impeller shaft), and the shaft "freezes."
The thing's still driveable at that point albeit with reduced power. Then it's
take-apart-and-clean time.  And, in very hot climates like here in CenTex,
valve-dropping might occur, as it did to me, but then we're playing by Big Boy
Rules aren't we? :)

Phil Brandt
Austin, TX
CORSA member since '71